All stories by Tulis McCall on BroadwayStars

Monday, May 13, 2024

Here There Are Blueberries by Tulis McCall

Who were these smiling people relaxing in deck chairs, sitting at dining tables, gathering on a hillside to exchange pleasantries.  Who were those girls with the commandant and why were t…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 08:30PM[SHARE]
Friday, May 3, 2024

Mother Play by Tulis McCall

Yipes - there is so much packed into this title.  Notice it is not "THE Mother Play."  It is "Mother Play" As such it is a full blown noun.   For me,  however, this story is D…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 03:19PM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 2, 2024

2016 Marilyn Maye Interview " by Betsyann Faiella " Revisited by Tulis McCall

"This is a thoroughbred bounding out of the gate brandishing a mane of roman candles." - Tulis McCall, The Front Row Center I'm moved to say this was not a comeback, because she wasn't…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 03:17PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Old Friends AGAIN by Tulis McCall

This show sentimental,  heartbreaking, hilarious and intimate.  It would be easy to dismiss on the surface as an evening by, about and for older folks.  Au contraire matey.   …

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 03:08PM[SHARE]
Friday, April 26, 2024

STILL by Tulis McCall

Lia Romeo does not let us sit on our laurels and watch the story we expect.  Oh no.  She leads us down the primrose path and pulls the proverbial rug out from under us.  

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 01:28PM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 25, 2024

Uncle Vanya by Tulis McCall

...what we have here is a collection of people who are disappointed to the point of being annoying.  Chekhov has tossed them all together into one pot of luke warm water.  In addition,…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 12:56PM[SHARE]
Monday, April 22, 2024

Suffs by Tulis McCall

First of all the term is "Suffragist" not "Suffragette".  A Suffragist is a person who demands suffrage (the right to vote) for everyone.  Suffragette is a derogatory term created to t…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 04:48PM[SHARE]
Sunday, April 21, 2024

Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club by Tulis McCall

It is Bebe Neuwirth who delivers the nut of the story at the eleventh hour. Everything else leading up to this moment is spectacle.  A  beautifully executed spectacle.  A puff past…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 09:45PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Sally & Tom by Tulis McCall

Parks does not permit us to go gently into that good night.  She will not leave us sitting comfortably in our own upstanding ignorance.  Like Jefferson she stands at the "intersection …

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 09:45PM[SHARE]
Monday, April 15, 2024

Scarlett Dreams by Tulis McCall

By Stanford Friedman The ancient myth of Pandora's box explains how all things evil came into the world when a lid was opened out of curiosity. S. Asher Gelman offers a futuristic twist on t…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 10:15PM[SHARE]
Friday, April 12, 2024

Marilyn Maye Birthday Celebration @54 Below by Tulis McCall

Having seen Marilyn Maye many, many times for over a decade I know in advance there will be at least one point where she will leave me face down sobbing in my soup (should there be any aroun…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 03:57PM[SHARE]
Monday, April 1, 2024

STALKER by Tulis McCall

This duo is the perfect combination of charm and danger. More than once they scrambled my brain and handed it back to me with a side of fries.

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 08:15PM[SHARE]

Grief Hotel by Tulis McCall

There is a pattern that pops up from time in all of our lives.  An event or a thing or a person is pronounced "swell".  Occasionally we concur with the pronouncement, and occasionally …

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 04:25PM[SHARE]
Friday, March 22, 2024

The Notebook by Tulis McCall

I'm not that big a love fan myself.  Onstage it can be clunky.  Passion can be badly choreographed or altogether unbelievable.  It can be too loud or too long or too sophomoric. …

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 03:52PM[SHARE]

Leslie Uggams at 54 Below by Tulis McCall

Uggams was a gift when she started out.  That she remains an iconic performer says something about not only her talent, but her determination and drive.  This is a woman who is not int…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 02:36PM[SHARE]
Monday, March 18, 2024

Enemy Of The People by Tulis McCall

There are a few staging surprises that work very well indeed.  We are not merely observers.  We are witnesses. This is "Right vs Might" and it is not news.  The only hopeful note is…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 10:15PM[SHARE]

Doubt " A Parable by Tulis McCall

John Patrick Shanley wasn't kidding when he titled this play "Doubt A Parable"  There is more theorizing and speculation thrown around here than a person can grab in one go-round.  As …

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 03:42PM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 14, 2024

The Effect by Tulis McCall

The Effect has given us a huge gymnasium into which we are invited to play, engage, risk, contemplate, judge, experiment, and be our wild selves.  All from the comfort of our seats.  T…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 06:40PM[SHARE]
Sunday, March 10, 2024

Dead Outlaw by Tulis McCall

"Dead Outlaw", now at Audible's Minetta Lane Theatre is a deceptive cuss of a show. What appears as a simple tale of varmints, thieves and outlaws is anything but.

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 08:15PM[SHARE]
Thursday, February 29, 2024

Jelly's Last Jam by Tulis McCall

I don't know what you have planned for this weekend, but if you have not seen this gorgeous Encores! production of "Jelly's Last Jam" at City Center - I suggest you rethink whatever you have…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 05:29PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 27, 2024

The Ally by Tulis McCall

 The story takes place in September and early October of 2023 on an unidentified college campus.  "Early October" being the operative phrase here, because it takes place before October…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 10:30PM[SHARE]
Monday, February 26, 2024

Seven Year Disappear by Tulis McCall

Miriam (Cynthia Nixon) and her son Naphtali (Taylor Trensch) have what could be referred to as a strained relationship.  Strained to the point of busting wide open except for the fact tha…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 07:45PM[SHARE]
Friday, February 23, 2024

The Connector by Tulis McCall

"The Connector" now at MCC Theatre is an innocuous bit of fluff that has great ambitions and little structure.  What it does have is a spectacular cast who tell this tale with as much gus…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 03:31PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 20, 2024

I Love You So Much I Could Die by Tulis McCall

Ms. Pirnot sings 4 or 5 songs, each amplified differently, almost as if they were daring us to doubt our attention to this detail. In between, the stories are told by the text-to-speech gizm…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 02:56PM[SHARE]
Thursday, February 8, 2024

Russian Troll Farm by Tulis McCall

Gancher's writing is mesmerizing and brave.  This is gorgeous ensemble, directed with skill and grace.  The result? A production that says, " Put on your Big Person Pants and get over …

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 09:15PM[SHARE]
Friday, February 2, 2024

BROADWAY'S HELL'S KITCHEN ESTABLISHES COMPREHENSIVE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM by Tulis McCall

a comprehensive Fellowship Program, dedicated to building and strengthening the Broadway employment pipeline by engaging and employing individuals from historically overlooked communities to…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 03:12PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 31, 2024

The Animal Kingdom by Tulis McCall

The brilliance of this piece starts with Ruby Thomas's writing.  She approaches this family much like a zoologist might approach a small rare creature, with a soft glove on one hand and a…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 04:56PM[SHARE]

Chita Rivera " A Tribute by Tulis McCall

From a review of Chita Rivera's Café Carlyle show 2017. "Chita Rivera doesn't just take the stage at Café Carlyle.  She hoists it over her shoulder and walks off with it.  Rivera is…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 01:29PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 30, 2024

There's Still A Little Starch Left " an Overdue Review by Tulis McCall

Somewhere in the flotsam and jetsam of the holiday I forgot to pay special tribute to Lynn Henderson who performed "There's A Little Starch Left" - her new one woman show - in December at Do…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 03:56PM[SHARE]

Once Upon A Mattress at Encores! by Tulis McCall

Once Upon A Mattress at Encores is a ton and a half of pure joy.  And Sutton Foster is at the center of it, using her crystal voice. lungs of iron, comedic timing.  Foster is a combina…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 02:28PM[SHARE]
Friday, January 26, 2024

Women on Fire: Fair is Foul by Tulis McCall

There are secrets being spilled here.  These are the stories women tell each other in private.  In this production Chris Henry and Lorna Ventura  have pulled the women and every one…

SOURCE: The Front Row Center at 03:53PM[SHARE]

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